Iron Man (2008)

Iron Man Synopsis

Iron Man is a movie adaptation of the popular Marvel comic book about a tortured, alcoholic billionaire with a heart defect. By wearing an special suit made of iron he keeps his heart pumping, and gets certain bonus super-powers at the same time.

Robert Downey Jr. as a superhero; an alcoholic superhero? I'm sorry, but I'm not sure I deserve to live in a world where such a movie exists. It's a casting choice so unbelievably perfect that Iron Man might actually have a chance to end up as the first superhero movie to win a legitimate acting Oscar. It's an idea so pure and good that if Paramount hadn't already confirmed it you'd think it would have to be completely fake.

Robert has reportedly already gotten himself in fantastic shape for the film, and has even gone so far as to grow the trademark mustache and goatee Tony Stark is known for. That's a good sign, since it means he's into it. Hopefully this isn't just a big superhero paycheck for him, but Downey has never seemed like the type to take big cash-in parts anyway.

Director Jon Favreau and his team have done the impossible: They've managed to find a way to make his Iron Man movie matter. Robert Downey Jr. is one of Hollywood's finest actors, and in his personal life he's battled a lot of the addiction issues which make Tony Stark such an interesting figure in the first place. Paramount probably sees it as a gamble, but it's a beautiful one. Makes you want to stand up and cheer. Mix in the great Terrence Howard, as Stark's friend Jim Rhodes and maybe, just maybe, Hollywood isn't evil after all.

In addition to a new director being thrown in as a candidate for the upcoming Spider-Man solo film, today also brought hint of what we might expect in Spidey’s next outing. Here are five big things you can expect from the rebooted Spider-Man in 2017.

There's still a great deal that we don't know about the upcoming Spider-Man film that will take place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Of course, that's not going to stop the rumor wheel from turning, and now there are new reports coming out claiming to have the inside scoop on exactly what we can expect to see in the 2017 blockbuster.

Early this morning, Robert Downey Jr. teased that there’s a big announcement coming next week. Here are the five likeliest possibilities for next week’s announcement might be, whether it’s Marvel related or something completely different.

Marvel Studios wasn’t always the superhero movie giant that it is today. Prior to the massive success of The Avengers, the films were hit and miss, and Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man movies were most reflective of this. While the first one did extremely well, the second one was a let down. But as with any hiccups, RDJ learned a valuable lesson in his path to becoming a mega superstar.

As the movie's title suggests, Captain America will remain the central character in Captain America: Civil War, with Robert Downey Jr. is still set to play a prominent role. The big question hanging in the air, however, is whether Tony will still come off and likable and reasonable in the story, or if certain events will lead to us hating his guts.

As Marvel’s fan base braces for The Avengers: Age of Ultron to hit in May, they look back on the better times… when a team came together to save one of our planet’s most important cities from an extraterrestrial threat. But friction might threaten to tear away at this team of heroes in Ultron, because we already that a Civil War is coming in the third Captain America movie.

Marvel and Sony have set aside their differences are working together to bring Spider-Man into the cinematic universe of the Avengers! What are the odds that some of our favorite MCU characters will be popping up in a Spider-Man movie?

While most of the heroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have managed to survive their dangerous adventures, the same can’t be said for the villains. However, in the case of one notable antagonist, originally he wasn’t even supposed to have been killed off.

Robert Downey Jr. has an interesting leveraged position when it comes to dealing with Marvel Studios. Still, that hasn’t stopped Marvel from repeatedly betting on him, and as a result we will soon see him co-starring in Joe and Anthony Russo’s Captain America 3. What you may not know, however, is that this decision may have completely changed Marvel’s entire future.

One of the biggest mysteries from the Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer is why Hulk is fighting Tony Stark in the Hulkbuster armor. However, what if Tony isn’t even in the armor? A tease for an upcoming product might be hinting at that.

The movie-accurate Mark XLIII Collectible Figure is highly detailed and specially crafted based on the image of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Mark XLIII in Avengers: Age of Ultron, featuring a newly painted Tony Stark helmeted head sculpt, metallic red, gold and silver armor with weathered effects, LED light-up functions, and a specially designed diorama base.

Tony Stark will be clashing with Steve Rogers in Captain America: Civil War and James Rhodes will be appearing in The Avengers: Age of Ultron, but is there another appearance in store for the Iron Man character Pepper Potts in the MCU? Here’s what the actress had to say.

Professional prop-maker Eric Hart crated probably the best Halloween costume of 2014 for his hospitalised son. Collier Hart was born prematurely back in July, and to aid his fight for survival Eric Hart decided to craft a teeny-tiny Iron Man suit that instantly made him the coolest kid in North Carolina.

Tony Stark’s role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is about to get even bigger, and if Marvel is wise, they’ll make sure to include him in the Black Panther movie to show him traveling farther down his new path.

Fans have spent years wondering just how many films Robert Downey Jr. will wind up doing with Marvel Studios. While the actor is certainly a main attraction in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he is also a massively expensive addition to any feature film project. So how many will it be? It turns out that the star has a little bit of insight on that question.

As Joss Whedon's The Avengers cuts to black and begins its first round of end credits, there is a lasting image of the last surviving letter on the outside of Stark Tower: the letter "A." Given the chosen font, it was pretty obviously a nod to the fact that the building would wind up becoming The Avengers Tower - but as cool as that Easter Egg is, now there is a cooler story about the character (specifically about its current whereabouts).

Poor Jon Favreau. Not only was he replaced by Shane Black as Iron Man 3’s director but it has now been revealed that his character, Happy Hogan, was originally supposed to die in the blockbuster. Thankfully the studio had a change of heart and decided that Happy would end up in a coma instead.

There is now a massive threat looming over the Marvel Cinematic Universe. No, I’m not talking about Thanos, I’m talking about Civil War. Last night it was revealed that the massively popular 2006 comic book crossover will soon be coming to the big screen in the form of the MCU’s Phase Three. We expect the consequences of the events to be tremendous, with at least some casualties. But who will be biting the bullet?

If you were going to hire Robert Downey Jr. to star in your comic movie, how much would you pay him? Take that number, head on into the story, and see how it compares to what he's bringing home for his role in Captain America 3.

With Marvel Comics revealing earlier today that they would be rebooting the famed crossover storyline Civil War, we immediately began speculating that the event would bleed into the goings-on in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We suggested that it was possible that Captain America and Iron Man would end up going toe-to-toe at some point down the line, offering up The Avengers 4 as a possibility. It turns out that we may have been way off. It turns out that Civil War may actually be starting in 2016.

Before they teamed up to defeat Loki and his invading Chitauri forces at the end of Joss Whedon's The Avengers, Captain America and Iron Man didn't exactly get along. They eventually put their personal differences aside to fight evil and even became friends, but if new developments at Marvel Comics are any indication, it may not be too long before the two Marvel Cinematic Universe heroes once again find themselves at each other's throats.

Both gazing into our crystal balls to look at the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and also back at the history of Iron Man comics, we’ve come up with three possible plot directions that Marvel Studios may want to go with the potential Iron Man 4. Read through our ideas, and tell us what you’d like to see happen in the comments section!

One of the newest Marvel Cinematic Universe rumors is that Captain America, Thor and possibly Black Widow won’t appear in Avengers 3. Instead, they will be saved for another film down the line. If this proves to be true, Marvel needs to make sure that these secondary supeheroes to form the new Avengers team in the threequel.

Mel Gibson could be set for an almighty return to Hollywood, but it’s all in the hands of Robert Downey Jr. The actor admitted that he could be tempted to issue Marvel with an ultimatum over his future as Tony Stark that declared he would only return if Gibson was allowed to direct Iron Man 4. Would Marvel allow the controversial character to oversee such a huge blockbuster? Would Downey Jr make such a request? We’ll just have to see.

If you were to wind the clock back to 2007, a year before Iron Man put Robert Downey Jr. back on the map, you'd probably be hearing a lot of laughs. But for a man who had been written off by so many as unemployable, he had a true fan in Jon Favreau and that fandom lead to what many call the greatest casting decision in comic book movie history.

The nostalgia wave has finally caught up with Remo Williams, and his adventures look to be beginning all over again. The literary and one time silver screen hero is going to be coming back into our lives, and with Shane Black at the helm to guide him.

Josh Brolin conducted an AMA this morning, which is chock full of fun and witty comments from the man himself. Yet buried in that wit and warmth is a challenge for one of Earth's mightiest heroes. Folks, it looks like the man of iron is going to face the mad titan, all for our own amusement!

Above is a neat-o little video regarding the history of the onscreen Marvel universe, and the various nods and Easter Eggs regarding each film thus far - from the studio's first (Iron Man) to its tenth, this weekend's Guardians Of The Galaxy. Well, technically its eighth, since it stops before Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which doesn't hit Blu-ray/ DVD until September 9th.

The fine people over at Marvel have gotten their magic wands out and changed quite a bit about the their most beloved characters over the past few days. Moving forward in the comic world, Sam Wilson, better known as The Falcon, will be taking over for Captain America, and Thor’s mantle will pass to a woman. As such, many fans expected a huge alteration for Iron Man

Watching just about any Iron Man movie might get you thinking how sweet it would be to have a Iron Man suit to call your very own. Well, the US military agrees, and is currently in the works on turning this superhero science fiction into a reality. And they are calling on Hollywood to help.

Thanks to some unbridled critical and box office success, practically everyone in the world knows the big stars of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Iron Man, Thor, Hulk and Captain America (and the actors who play them) are all not only true blue household names, and the same can be said for their females leads and villains. But what about the supporting players of the big screen comic book world?

Following the parting of ways between Edgar Wright and Marvel Studios over the upcoming comic book movie Ant-Man, it was Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn of all people who stepped out into the spotlight and really said all the right things to try and calm irate fans down.

While Robert Downey Jr. is now easily one of the most beloved movie stars in the world, prior to taking on the role of Tony Stark in 2008's Iron Man the actor had a very different public image. Despite years and years of putting on fantastic performances in great films, the star was much better known for his drug and alcohol habits and as a result was considered by many in the studio system to be an extreme risk.

We have taken a long look back at the history of comic book movies and have determined the five best superhero costume upgrades we’ve seen within single franchises. Read on to see which designs made the cut!

It’s kind of surprising, and maybe a little dispiriting, to see one of the top moneymakers in Hollywood essentially refer to himself as a product that can be switched out so easily. But that’s how the Marvel machine works, as Edward Norton and Terrence Howard would happily tell you.

Now, we all know that Downey is paid extremely handsomely to play Iron Man, and that Marvel is notorious for playing crazy hardball with pretty much all of its other actors, and it's completely believable that Howard's departure happened the exact way he said it happened on Bravo last night

Are you ready to assemble with Marvel’s The Avengers? Graphic artist Adam Levermore is. He went ahead and created a series of patriotic, WWII-inspired “recruitment” one-sheets for each of the main Avengers heroes, from Captain America to Thor and Iron Man.

Walt Disney Home Entertainment announced the release on Friday, noting that 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD copies will hit shelves on September 24. However, fans who are just interested in catching Tony Stark on his latest adventure and through some marital spats with Pepper Potts will be able to do so early if they purchase a digital copy of the film. Digital copies will be available through various outlets beginning on September 3.

Robert Downey Jr. has committed to play Tony "Iron Man" Stark for two more feature films, specifically The Avengers 2 and The Avengers 3. What's not mentioned in Marvel's press release—and is sure to be a matter of speculation until someone fesses up—is just how much Downey commanded to step back into that cumbersome suit.